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Update: My student just came to me with her addition, a couple lines at the bottom, in red.

My student wrote this poem for an assignment with very little instruction: You need to write a poem that is at least 20 lines long and then tell me what the main idea of the poem is and tell me what emotions you are using or feeling in the poem.

I present it here with no editing, and it will annoy me to death, but that is how she explicitly wanted it. I tell my students (especially in poetry) that it is okay to break the rules as long as 1) you know what rule you are breaking and 2) you know why you are breaking it. She knew the what and why, so here it is:

Many people say I hate my life,Why can’t someone else be in myplace? Why not live life while you’realive! Think, do you want to be some helpless cat dead on the sidewalk. As yousee, lightning is most peoples’ killer anger. It roarsto life & it stays for a while. If you die, many people feel sorry for you, butisn’t death what you wanted? So death is what you got! Once you die or kill your-self there are no second chances, you feel angry & stupid for wanting to die allyou do now is sit down & cry! You wishu hadn’t but you did, now u wish youstill had lived. There are so many thingsin life to live for so step back and try toignore. People want to bring you downjust look at them and frown, frown, frown.You will be a clown if you want to dieSo don’t do it just sit & cry, cry, cry.Your life is over, it was your choice you shouldn’t have killed yourself, instead spokeyour voice.

I think it is a pretty good poem, and I like that it has an anti-suicide message. This girl has always bewildered me, and I like that she is showing herself in this poem.